Feb. 7, 2009
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 51 South Carolina swept a men’s tennis doubleheader Saturday at the USC Indoor Fieldhouse, opening the day with a 7-0 win over Davidson before posting a 6-1 win over Charlotte. The Gamecocks (6-1) dropped just two sets during the two matches with all 10 players on the roster getting in at least one match on the day. Juniors Diego Cubas and Pedro Campos and sophomore Johannes Pulsfort each went 2-0 in singles and 1-0 in doubles play to lead the way.
The Davidson Wildcats struggled against the Gamecocks, and Carolina swept the three doubles matches in just 45 minutes. Cubas and Campos quickly dispatched their opponents at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, yielding just five games in the four sets between them. At No. 3 singles, Johannes Pulsfort opened his day with a steady 6-3, 6-3 win over Davidson’s Calum Gee, and freshman Ivan Machado got the break of serve he needed in each set to knock off Arie Hefter 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 4 spot. Junior David Wolff looked solid in just his second singles action in a dual match this season, handing Carter Braxton a 6-3, 6-0 defeat in the No. 5 slot. Senior Thomas Stoddard rounded out the sweep with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Tareq Alani.
The Charlotte match had a similar outcome but with much more suspense in each match. Joseph Veeder and Machado cruised to an 8-2 win in the No. 2 doubles spot, but the 49ers put up a fight in the other two matches. Campos and Ivan Cressoni had Charlotte’s No. 1 tandem of Moritz Bernhoerster and Chris Huynh down 6-2 before the 49ers stormed back, breaking Veeder’s serve as part of a three-game run to pull within 5-6. Cressoni held his serve, and the Gamecocks broke in the final game to secure the doubles point for Carolina.
Singles play opened with Jaime Cuellar quickly dismissing Anthony Davison 6-1, 6-0 at the No. 3 spot. Cubas faced his teammate’s brother Ricardo in No. 1 singles, and the younger Cuellar was giving the Gamecocks’ top player all he could handle early. Cubas finally got a break of serve to go up 4-3 when Cuellar put a short ball into the net. Cubas served a love to go up 5-3 and broke his opponent once again to win the set. Cubas got an early break to post a 6-3 win in the second set as well. Campos delivered the final point needed for victory with a 6-2, 6-4 win at the No. 2 position. He opened a three-game streak with a break of serve to go up 3-2 in the first set and used an early break in the second to collect the win.
Although the match was decided, Pulsfort continued to battle Brad Clinard at the No. 4 position. An early break of serve put Pulsfort in a 1-3 hole, and he was down 3-5 with Clinard serving for the match. The Gamecock sophomore broke to stay in the match and went on to force a tie-breaker. Clinard got up 2-0 in the tie-breaker, but again Pulsfort responded and yielded just two more points to take the first set 7-6 (4). He completed the victory with a 6-4 second set. Cressoni and Chris Sheehan wrapped up the match with victories at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively.
South Carolina continues its eight-match home stand with a Valentine’s Day match against Elon at 1 p.m. The match will be played at the Sam Daniel Tennis Center.
No. 51 South Carolina 7, Davidson 0
Doubles: (Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1)
1. Diego Cubas/Ivan Machado (SC) def. Calum Gee/Scott Myers (DAV) 8-4
2. Jaime Cuellar/Joe Veeder (SC) def. Walker Lyons/Brandon Byrd (DAV) 8-2
3. Ivan Cressoni/Johannes Pulsfort(SC) def. David Warren/Carter Braxton (DAV) 8-2
Singles: (Order of Finish: 2, 1, 4, 3, 5, 6)
1. Diego Cubas (SC) def. Walker Lyons (DAV) 6-2, 6-2
2. Pedro Campos (SC) def. Scott Myers (DAV) 6-0, 6-1
3. Johannes Pulsfort (SC) def. Calum Gee (DAV) 6-3, 6-3
4. Ivan Machado (SC) def. Arie Hefter (DAV) 6-3, 6-4
5. David Wolff (SC) def. Carter Braxton (DAV) 6-3, 6-0
6. Thomas Stoddard (SC) def. Tareq Alani (DAV) 6-2, 6-4
No. 51 South Carolina 7, Charlotte 0
Doubles: (Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3)
1. Pedro Campos/Ivan Cressoni (SC) def. Moritz Bernhoerster/Chris Huynh (CHA) 8-5
2. Joe Veeder/Ivan Machado (SC) def. Jeff Archer/Mike Anders (CHA) 8-2
3. Mirza Beciragic/Anthony Davison (CHA) def. Thomas Stoddard/Chris Sheehan (SC) 8-5
Singles: (Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6)
1. Diego Cubas (SC) def. Ricardo Cuellar (CHA) 6-3, 6-3
2. Pedro Campos (SC) def. Moritz Bernhoerster (CHA) 6-2, 6-4
3. Jaime Cuellar (SC) def. Anthony Davison (CHA) 6-1, 6-0
4. Johannes Pulsfort (SC) def. Brad Clinard (CHA) 7-6 (4), 6-4
5. Ivan Cressoni (SC) def. Charles Martin-Lecamp (CHA) 6-2, 6-3
6. Chris Huynh (CHA) def. Chris Sheehan (SC) 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-5)
